In this section

The parish of Wroxton (2,543 a.) (fn. 2) lies 3 miles westnorth-west of Banbury and includes the hamlet of
Balscott. (fn. 3) It lies on a sandstone plateau covered by
red loam, rising at Claydon Hill, its highest point,
to 550 ft. Precipitous ravines, like Ragnell Bottom,
cut by streams, form natural boundaries to the
north, east, and south; the two villages themselves
are situated at the head of other gullies that cut
deep into the plateau from the south and east. To the
west the parish boundary is marked off by no natural
feature from the neighbouring parish of Alkerton.

The parish was once traversed by ancient trackways and by the Saltway, a route from the Worcestershire saltworks to London. It has not yet been possible to prove the existence of a Roman road, but
there are slight traces of a Roman settlement. (fn. 4) The
main road from Stratford-on-Avon to Banbury
bisects the parish east and west, passing to the
north of Wroxton village and leaving Balscott well
to the south. This was always a busy thoroughfare:
in 1391 the Prior of Wroxton complained of impoverishment due to the obligation to give hospitality to a stream of travellers on it, and it figures
prominently as London Way on maps of Wroxton
of 1684 and 1768. (fn. 5) Regular entries in Wroxton
estate accounts from 1685 about Banbury market (fn. 6)
suggest that there was considerable local traffic on
this road. In the mid 18th century, when it was
proposed to turnpike it, William Cartwright of
Aynho argued that a good road between Banbury
and Stratford 'would be a great convenience for
bringing coals thence and carrying corn thence'. (fn. 7)
The proposed alignment of the road caused disputes,
however, and in 1753 30 inhabitants petitioned
Francis, Earl of Guilford (d. 1790) asking that the
turnpike should follow an existing driftway to
avoid loss of good land. (fn. 8) The earl was himself
concerned in case travellers might avoid the tollgate by passing through Wroxton Park. (fn. 9) A Bill was
brought in in 1753 and work began early in 1754. (fn. 10)

A stone guide-post, which stands on the Banbury
road just outside the village, was set up in 1686 by
Francis White, whose name is inscribed on it.
The New Inn, also on the Banbury road, probably
came into existence soon after the road was turnpiked. To the north of the highway is a mineral
railway, a branch of the former G.W.R., built to
facilitate the exploitation of ironstone in the parish.
It was under construction in 1880. (fn. 11)

In the Middle Ages Wroxton was probably a
larger settlement than Balscott. (fn. 12) In 1377 148 men
and women contributed to the poll tax, but many
died from plagues shortly afterwards. (fn. 13) A suit roll of
1569 lists 70 names, 12 of them of widows. (fn. 14) The
parish register for 1563–71 shows a continued, if
less marked, increase. (fn. 15) The Protestation Return of
1641 recorded an adult male population of 107, and in
1676 there were 219 communicants of 16 and over,
both of which suggest a total population of c. 330. (fn. 16)
After a period of stability the population began to
rise about 1740; (fn. 17) the rate of growth was highest,
however, in the second, third, and fourth decades
of the 19th century. The total population was 613
in 1801, 652 in 1811, and 792 in 1821. By 1841 it had
reached a peak of 819. (fn. 18) It fell steadily to 562 in
1901. In 1961 it was 598. (fn. 19)

Wroxton village lies on the slopes of a valley at a
height of c. 500 ft. on the east side of the parish.
The earliest spellings suggest an etymology Wroces
Stan or the Buzzards' stone. (fn. 20) The extent of the
village before the 18th century is unknown, but it
can never have been large. In 1738 the vicar returned 50 houses.

In 1797 the village was described as 'tolerably
large', and in 1841 there were 129 houses. (fn. 21) The
main Banbury-Stratford road forms one side of the
triangle in which the village lies. From it the village
street descends southwards past the church, which
stands high above the road, to the pond and school;
it leaves Wroxton Abbey and its out-buildings isolated in their park in the south-east corner, and then
ascends again to join the highway. Most of the
cottages and houses date from the early 17th or
18th century and so the village has preserved to a
remarkable extent its regional character. The cottages are mostly 2-storied, though some have cellars,
and are built of coursed ironstone rubble, or occasionally of ashlar. They mostly have brick chimney stacks. Probably all were once thatched, for
stone slates were little used in this area. There was
still much thatch in 1965. A number (e.g. Ivy
Cottage) retain ancient stone-mullioned windows
or casements, while others have 18th-century
casements. Two are dated: Wroxton Cottage is
inscribed 'I.S. 1736' and another, some 30 yards to
the west of the old school, has a sundial inscribed
'C:S.E. 1752, 30 May'. (fn. 22) Many were probably
rebuilt after a serious fire in 1666. Collections after
the fire were made in various parishes and over £50
was distributed among 18 'necessitated poor'. (fn. 23)

The 'White Horse' is first mentioned by name in
1782; the 'North Arms', although a 17th-century
house in origin, does not appear to have been licensed until c. 1850. (fn. 24) It is of two builds and has been
refaced. There are many farm-houses in the village
of 17th- or early-18th-century origin. A barn at
Raydon Hill farm is dated 'W.L. 1677'. The 19th
and 20th centuries have seen the addition of a few
new buildings such as the nonconformist chapels,
the vicarage-house, built in 1868 by the architect
John Gibson, and the Roman Catholic chapel, (fn. 25)
but they lie on the fringe of the old village. Since
1840, when its streets were taken in hand by Colonel
North and pig-sties and rubbish dumps cleared
away, (fn. 26) Wroxton has been almost a 'model' village.

The medieval village was no doubt dominated by
the Augustinian priory founded there in the 13th
century. (fn. 27) This brought it into contact with a wider
world, and the parish benefited directly from the
priory's charitable gifts: on Maundy Thursday
bread and fish to the value of 40s. was dispensed to
the poor, and at the obit of the founder 14 paupers
received alms valued at £5 16s. (fn. 28) The village has
also been made memorable by its connexion with
Wroxton Abbey, which was built on the priory site
in the early 17th century, and with the distinguished
members of the Pope and North families who have
resided there. Sir William Pope entertained James I,
and William's grandson, the royalist Sir Thomas
Pope, Earl of Downe (d. 1660), received Charles I
and his queen after the two royal armies had
joined forces at Edgehill. (fn. 29) Francis North, Lord
Keeper, who had married a sister of the last Earl of
Downe, was often at Wroxton. He spent much of
his vacations at the Abbey with his two brothers
and his sisters, a company he styled societas exoptata.
In his last illness he retired to Wroxton, being partly
drawn by the recent discovery of the medicinal
qualities of the waters at Astrop near King's Sutton
(Northants.). He took the great seal with him and
carried on his work from Wroxton until his death in
1685. (fn. 30)

Among other distinguished members of the family
who resided from time to time were the Keeper's
brother Roger North, the historian of the family and
an amateur scientist, who built a laboratory at
Wroxton, and Frederick, Lord North and Earl of
Guilford (d. 1792), 13 times M.P. for Banbury, and
First Lord of the Treasury 1770–82. (fn. 31) Among the
literary friends of the family who stayed at Wroxton
were Francis Wise (d. 1767), Wroxton's incumbent, (fn. 32)
and Horace Walpole. (fn. 33)

Many of the priory buildings presumably dated
from the early 13th century, and in 1304 it was
reported that they were out of repair. The prior
and convent asked for the grant of three years'
indulgence to those visitors who should assist them. (fn. 34)
A clause in the first lease of the site to Sir William
Raynesford, dated 1536, directed that most of the
buildings should be destroyed. (fn. 35) There is a 13th-century arched recess and a 14th-century doorway in
the cellars of the present house (fn. 36) and the greater
part of the north wing appears to be part of the
monastic buildings, the north wall of the existing hall
being the original exterior south wall. In 1956 excavations in the grounds uncovered conduits and foundations of some of the monastic out-buildings and
further excavations in 1964 revealed the monastic
church lying immediately to the north east of the
house.

The present house was built in the second decade
of the 17th century by Sir William Pope, later
Earl of Downe (d. 1631), at a reputed cost of £6,000. (fn. 37)
The doors of the chapel bear the date 1618, by which
time it may be presumed that the work was virtually
complete. The house is of 3 stories, with stonemullioned windows and numerous gables. The west
front forms a symmetrical composition, with a
central porch running up all 3 stories and flanked
by projecting north and south wings. Though a
south wing was clearly intended from the first, it was
not in fact built until 1858–9. Eighteenth-century
drawings show the house ending abruptly where
the wing now joins the main structure. (fn. 38)

Of the original fittings the most remarkable are
the carved wooden doors of the chapel already
mentioned, the wooden gallery in the hall, elaborately
carved with strapwork cartouches, caryatides, and
other Jacobean motifs, and the glass, some by the
brothers Van Linge, in the east window of the chapel.
There is also a good deal of 16th- and 17th-century
woodwork scattered about the house. Some of this
was removed in the 18th century from the North
family seat of Kirtling (Cambs.), and some was
bought abroad by Colonel North in the early 19th
century. At one time there was much 16th-century
heraldic glass in the windows of the hall, some of
which was original and some taken from other houses
by the Norths. None of this now remains: some went
long since to the Gothic Temple in the grounds of
Stowe House (Bucks.), more was removed in 1901 to
the Roman Catholic church at Kirtling, and the rest
was sold to an American collector in the 1920s. (fn. 39) Of
the moveables, such as pictures, furniture, and
tapestries, (fn. 40) nothing now remains at Wroxton, as the
entire contents of the house were sold by auction in
1933. (fn. 41)

Towards the end of his life Lord Keeper North
(d. 1685) carried out some extensive works at Wroxton with the assistance of his brother Roger who
was an architect of ability. Roger records that the
Lord Keeper erected 'a large order of stabling very
stately and convenient; and built from the ground a
withdrawing room and back stairs and finished up
the rooms of state, as they were called, and shaped
the windows, which before had made the rooms like
birdcages', all at a cost of over £2,000. (fn. 42) When
Celia Fiennes visited the house about this time, she
approved of the alterations 'all the new fashion way'. (fn. 43)

Further alterations were carried out in the 1740s
by Francis, later Earl of Guilford (d. 1790). (fn. 44)
In 1747 he invited Sanderson Miller to design a new
Gothic east window for the chapel. (fn. 45) Apart from the
erection of a new entrance gateway in 1771 (fn. 46) no
further changes took place for nearly a century. A
Gothic library designed by Sir Robert Smirke was
added on the east side of the house in the second
quarter of the 19th century (fn. 47) and in 1858–9 Colonel
North employed John Gibson (1817–92) to design
the south wing in a Jacobean style matching the
rest of the house. (fn. 48)

The gardens were laid out in 1733–48 by Francis,
Earl of Guilford (d. 1790). (fn. 49) Alterations had been
started even earlier, in 1728, when Francis, while
his father was still alive, commissioned Tilleman
Bobart, a member of the Oxford family of gardeners,
to construct a rectangular pond, 240 ft. x 40 ft., and
improve the terrace. In 1730 Bobart submitted a
design for the kitchen garden, and was still at work
at Wroxton two year later. (fn. 50) It is not known whether
he was also responsible for the major alterations
that then began. The main features of these were a
dam, creating a large artificial lake; a cascade falling
down 20 ft. and a serpentine river running through
woods from the dam to the stream at the end of the
park; a pillared Gothic rotunda on a mound,
designed by Sanderson Miller in 1750 and equipped
with 'curtains that, by turning screws, let down so
as to afford shelter whichever way you please'; (fn. 51)
a Chinese summer-house, that was in being by
1749; (fn. 52) a Chinese bridge and a small Chinese shelter for a seat; an obelisk erected on a prominent
position to commemorate the visit of Frederick,
Prince of Wales, for the Banbury Races of 1739; (fn. 53) a
hot house, and extensive planting of trees, shrubs,
and flowers. (fn. 54) The result was greatly admired at the
time, for example by Horace Walpole and Dr.
Richard Pococke, but many of the features of the
Georgian layout, including the shelter, rotunda, and
summer-house, have since disappeared. (fn. 55) The house
was modernized in 1964–5 and opened in 1965 as
a college for American students of the Fairleigh
Dickinson University, New Jersey. (fn. 56)

Balscott hamlet lies in the south-west of the parish
at the head of a steep gully leading south. The
earliest spellings are Berescote or Belescote, and the
name probably derives from Baelles cot or the
homestead of Baell. (fn. 57) The site, 500 ft. up, seems
originally to have been triangular, the houses built
round a green, with the church almost in the centre.
Balscott was a hamlet of moderate size in the
Middle Ages; (fn. 58) in 1738 the vicar returned 20 houses
and in 1841 there were forty-eight. (fn. 59) In the 19th
century a Wesleyan chapel was built in the apex of
the triangle. The school of 1840, enlarged in 1867,
was built of stone in the Gothic style. (fn. 60) It was not
until the 20th century that the introduction of new
building materials, yellow brick and concrete,
began to make much effect upon the character of
the village. The cottages are mainly 2-storied and of
17th- or 18th-century date. They are built of local
ironstone, and, although thatch remains, Welsh
slate is also common. The 'Butchers Arms', now
much altered, dates from the 17th century.

Three farm-houses are of considerable architectural interest. Of these Grange Farm and the Priory
Farm retain windows and doors of medieval date. (fn. 61)
Wroxton Abbey had property in the hamlet and
perhaps at least one of these houses and possibly
both were originally built for the priory's tenants
in the 14th century. In 1535 Richard Burden, a
salaried official of the priory and general receiver of
all its rents, farmed the priory's grange farm. (fn. 62)
His family remained in Balscott and for the hearth
tax of 1665 Robert Burden (d. 1677) was assessed
on 5 hearths. (fn. 63) He lived in a house on the northern
edge of the hamlet, bordering on the common.
The priory also had a bailiff at Balscott, Richard
Taylor. He was the receiver of rents for Balscott
and Wroxton, (fn. 64) and he may have occupied Priory
Farm. The occupant in 1665 may have been Edward
Atkins who was assessed on 5 hearths for the tax. (fn. 65)

Priory Farm is set back from the road behind its
farm-buildings. Its original medieval hall, though
now subdivided, can be identified. It was unusually
large (17 ft. x 19 ft.) and in the south wall there is
a window of 4 lights, of which the heads have fine
curvilinear tracery of the 14th or early 15th century.
The walls are of medieval thickness and the roof is
in part medieval although much altered in the 17th
century. The house itself was much altered c. 1500
when the main entrance through a wide doorway
with a 4-centred arch, contained within a square
label, was constructed and a new service bay was
added, separated by a through passage from the
hall. There was a major rebuilding in the 17th
century when the north wall of the hall was completely rebuilt and its roof structure altered. A
stair-case was added and mullioned windows were
inserted. In the mid 18th century there was a
complete reorganization of the one-time service end
of the building: the 17th-century parlour became
the service room and the hall became the kitchen, a
new canopied door was added to the south front,
and sash windows were inserted.

The architectural history of Grange Farm is very
similar. It can be identified with the house with two
wings shown on a map of 1684, near to Grange
Close from which it is separated by Grange Lane,
and was then occupied by Walter Garner. (fn. 66) It lies
close to Priory Farm and is entered by a fine and
unusually large doorway with a 4-centred moulded
arch of 15th-century date. A large window of 2
lights, once lighting the medieval hall, remains.
It has a stone mullion and transom and Perpendicular
tracery contained within a square head. There is a
door at the rear with a 4-centred arch. A bread oven
was built out into the road at a later date.

Manor Farm, once the manor-house, has an Lshaped plan and dates from the 17th century,
though it was much altered in the 18th century. It
was the chief house in the village in the 17th century
and was occupied by the Sacheverell family. It was
assessed on 7 hearths in 1665 (fn. 67) and it figures on
maps of 1677 and 1684. (fn. 68) The present house has an
18th-century front, while the rear wing is mainly
17th-century with mullioned windows of moulded
stone and a 2-storied stair-case projection. The
stable with a pigeon loft over it is also of 17thcentury date. The house is approached through a
17th-century gateway and ascending stone steps.

Balscott House, another 17th-century house,
consists of 2 stories and an attic. It was originally
built on a 2-unit plan but was added to at later
dates. A spiral stair-case is contained in a projecting
square block at the back of the house. The hall
chimney was placed against the screens passage and a
large open fire-place still remains.

Outside the village there is another 17th-century
house, Balscott Mill, a further illustration of the
great revival in agricultural prosperity of this period.
Home Farm, of late-18th-century date, is also of
some architectural interest. It is built in the local
style and with local materials.

Balscott and Wroxton have been chiefly distinguished by their connexion with Wroxton Abbey
and its inhabitants. Thomas Pope's estate suffered
damage during the Civil War, (fn. 69) but the parish
played no prominent part in events.

Manors and Other Estates.

In 1089
Wroxton, assessed at 17 hides, was held in chief by
Guy de Reinbeudcurt, lord of Chipping Warden
(Northants.). His son Ingram was holding of him, (fn. 70)
but neither at Wroxton nor elsewhere is anything
further heard of this son and by 1120–30 Wroxton
had passed with the barony of Chipping Warden
to Richard, another son. WROXTON MANOR
followed the descent of the barony of Chipping
Warden, known also as the honor of Rockingham. (fn. 71)
Held as 1 fee of the lordship in the late 13th century and probably before, it made payment for
castle-guard at Rockingham. (fn. 72) The overlordship
passed from Richard to his daughter and heir,
Margery, and to her husband Robert Foliot. In
1173–4 Foliot became a monk at Old Warden (Beds.)
and was succeeded by his son Richard who came of
age c. 1177 and died in 1203. Through his marriage
with Richard's daughter and heir, Margaret,
Wischard Ledet (d. 1221) then inherited the barony.
His daughter Christine took it to her first and second
husbands, Henry de Braybrooke (d. 1234) and Gerard
de Furnival (d. 1241–2), and so probably to her
third husband Thomas de Grelley (d. 1262), lord
of Pyrton. Both in 1235 and 1242, however, for
some unknown reason, Wroxton was said to be held
by Wischard (II) Ledet, Christine's son by her first
marriage, who died on crusade in 1241–2. (fn. 73) Christine died in 1271, seised of the barony, including
Wroxton. Her heirs were Christine and Agnes,
grand-daughters of Wischard (II) Ledet; Christine,
to whose share of the barony Wroxton belonged,
married Sir William Latimer. (fn. 74) The overlordship
of Wroxton descended from Christine to her son
Thomas Latimer (d. 1334). In 1335 his wife Laura
was given dower of a third of the rent of Wroxton. (fn. 75)
The connexion between Wroxton and the overlords
probably became increasingly tenuous, but 6s. 8d.
quit rent for Rockingham castle-guard was still
being paid to the king in 1536. (fn. 76)

From at least the early 12th century the Belets
were under-tenants at Wroxton. (fn. 77) Hervey Belet,
the first recorded member of the family to hold
Wroxton, was excused payment of danegeld for his
Oxfordshire lands in 1136. (fn. 78) His son Michael,
hereditary butler to Henry II and a prominent
judge, (fn. 79) held Oxfordshire lands in 1155, and Wroxton was probably included in his 1166 return of 4
fees of the old enfeoffment held under Robert
Foliot. (fn. 80) He was holding the Oxfordshire fee in 1199 (fn. 81)
but was probably dead by 1201. (fn. 82) In the office of
royal butler and in his Oxfordshire lands at least
he was succeeded by his son Master Michael Belet,
civil lawyer and canonist. (fn. 83) Michael's rights in the
property of his grandfather were confirmed by
King John in 1205. (fn. 84) Like his father he too had a
successful career as a royal servant, although he
temporarily incurred the king's displeasure in 1211
and his property was confiscated for a few months. (fn. 85)
The Belet family were pious benefactors of religious houses (fn. 86) and c. 1217 Michael founded a house
of Augustinian canons at Wroxton and endowed it,
among other properties, with his Wroxton manorhouse and demesne. (fn. 87) His heirs, his sister Annora
and her husband, Walter de Verdun, disputed the
grant, (fn. 88) but apparently became reconciled to it
later, for Annora herself endowed the priory with a
mill and 6½ yardlands in Wroxton in 1263. (fn. 89) The
priory was returned as under-tenant of Wroxton,
holding of the honor of Rockingham in 1242 and
1271. (fn. 90) Wroxton Priory retained the fee throughout
the Middle Ages and gradually extended its holding
in the parish, acquiring the Clements' estate in
1242 (fn. 91) and other small parcels of land. (fn. 92) In 1411
the priory was given a grant of free warren in all its
Wroxton demesne lands, and by 1536, when it
surrendered to the Crown, it held nearly all the land
in the parish. (fn. 93)

In 1536 the Crown granted a 21-year lease of the
site and demesne of the two manors of Wroxton
and Balscott to William Raynesford of Wroxton. (fn. 94)
In 1537 Thomas Pope, the Treasurer of the Court,
obtained a reversion of Raynesford's lease in return
for an exchange of land and some money, and a
grant in fee of the two manors in exchange for
Clapton manor (Northants.). (fn. 95) In November Pope
bought out the remainder of Raynesford's lease for
£200 and thus acquired full possession of the manors
and demesnes. (fn. 96)

In 1551 he gave his brother and heir John a 99year lease of the manors. (fn. 97) Shortly afterwards Thomas
Pope conceived the idea of founding Trinity
College, Oxford, and in 1554 he conveyed the manors
for ever to the new foundation. (fn. 98) Pope's arrangements, however, were singularly unbusinesslike for
so able and astute an administrator. He agreed with
his brother John that his own steward should hold
the manorial court, while John took the profits
and signed the copies, a wholly illegal arrangement
which caused much trouble for Trinity when it
took over from Thomas Pope. (fn. 99) Worse still, the
day after he transferred the property to Trinity he
is alleged to have settled it in tail male on his brother
John. (fn. 100)

The conveyance attesting the settlement has not
survived, but the fact that John Pope's son William
proceeded to spend £6,000 in the early years of the
17th century in erecting the existing mansion
suggests that it was a reality. Some such arrangement for the manor house of Fyfield (Berks.) was
certainly made at about the same time by Thomas
Pope's old friend Thomas White in his foundation
of St. John's College, Oxford, (fn. 101) and it is therefore
probable that the Wroxton property was so entailed
and that Trinity accepted the obligation to renew
the lease to the heirs male. Created Earl of Downe in
1628, William Pope died 3 years later, by which
time the remarkable situation had arisen of a great
English land-owner whose main residence was held
on lease. On the first earl's death his younger son
Sir Thomas Pope seized Wroxton and Balscott, the
evidences to the property, and the personal estate
of the late earl, claiming it on the strength of a
death-bed will. The heir to the title was the first
earl's grandson, Thomas, aged 8, the child of his
eldest son William who had died in 1624. It was
alleged on the minor's behalf that Trinity College
had made a 'confidence or agreement' with the
first Sir Thomas Pope that the lease was to be
renewed only to the heir male of the family, this
document having been seized by Sir Thomas Pope.
The President of Trinity College denied all knowledge of any such agreement and 9 years later took
a surrender of the old lease from Sir Thomas
Pope and issued a new one for 21 years. (fn. 102) Thus
Thomas, Earl of Downe (d. 1660), never possessed
Wroxton; on his death without issue in 1660 his
uncle Sir Thomas (d. 1668) succeeded to the title.
When the latter's son also died in 1668 there was a
failure of the male line, and the property, including
the Wroxton leases, was divided between 3 daughters.
The second daughter Frances married the rising
lawyer Francis North, later Lord Guilford, who in
1681 bought out the shares of the other two in the
leases of manors and rectories for £5,100. (fn. 103) By this
means the property, still held on 21-year leases from
Trinity, passed into the hands of the Norths,
Barons and later Earls of Guilford, where it remained
until the failure of the male line in 1827. It then
passed to Maria, Marchioness of Bute, the eldest
daughter of George Augustus, Earl of Guilford
(d. 1802), until her death in 1841, when it descended
to the second daughter, Susan (d. 1884), who inherited the title of Baroness North. She married
Colonel J. S. Doyle (d. 1894), who changed his
name to North, and their son William, Lord North,
continued to hold the estate on lease until his death
in 1932. In that year the family found itself in
financial difficulties, the lease was surrendered to
Trinity, and the long connexion of the Popes and
Norths with Wroxton manor ended. (fn. 104)

The Wroxton and Balscott manors, when given
to Trinity in 1554, formed a very substantial portion
of the college endowment, being £80 out of a total
of £191 8s. 4d. (fn. 105) The lease was surrendered in 1640
and from then onward was issued for 21 years at a
time, at a rent of £24, 24 qr. of barley malt and 18
qr. of wheat, a fine being paid for each renewal.
After 1680 the lease was regularly renewed every 4
years. The fine was set at £120 from 1684 to 1752,
and rose to a peak of £1,162 in 1812. (fn. 106) The rent,
with its substantial proportion fixed to the price
of malt and wheat, also rose greatly in the late 18th
century, reaching £248 in 1817. In 1860 a new
agreement was entered into, providing for a rack
rent to begin in 1881. (fn. 107) In that year a new lease was
granted but in 1894 the agricultural depression
obliged William, Lord North, to return to the
college the 403 a. of agricultural land which he had
rented at £725, leaving himself only the mansion
and park at a rent of £510. In 1921 he took a 14year lease of the mansion and park at a rent of
£742, the unexpired portion being surrendered at
his death in 1932. (fn. 108)

In 1086 BALSCOTT, assessed at 5 hides, was a
part of the fief of Bishop Odo of Bayeux and was
held by Wadard, one of his most influential and
wealthy tenants. (fn. 109) Like other of Wadard's lands
Balscott afterwards formed part of the barony of
Arsic, of which Cogges was the head. (fn. 110) The later
manor, not recorded until the 16th century, descended from the knight's fee for which Balscott
was held under this barony, and as late as 1535 the
Prior of Wroxton owed suit of castle-guard at
Dover, part of the service for which the barony was
held. (fn. 111) The overlordship was held by the Arsic
family in the 12th and 13th centuries. (fn. 112) After the
death in 1230 of Robert Arsic it formed part of
the inheritance of Joan, one of his two daughters
and coheirs, and was returned as held of her in
1242. (fn. 113) In fact Joan had granted her rights in Cogges
to Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York, in 1241,
and in 1244 she and her second husband granted the
homage and services of tenants, identifiable as
tenants in Balscott, to Walter son of Robert de
Grey, the Archbishop's nephew, who obtained the
barony and the knight's fees in Oxfordshire and
elsewhere. (fn. 114) The overlordship is not recorded again
until 1536. (fn. 115)

An under-tenant, William Leuke, perhaps the son
of the Robert Leuke who held land in Balscott in
1200, was mentioned in 1204. He claimed to hold
1 carucate in Balscott by service of ½ fee of John le
Pahier. (fn. 116) John le Pahier's connexion has not been
traced further but from later evidence his land was
clearly part of the Arsic fee. William Leuke granted
it in 1206 to Walter of Sarsden (Cerceden) and his
wife Gillian, (fn. 117) but the Leuke family had other land
for in 1241 William Leuke's son William acknowledged the customs and services he owed for a ¼ fee
in Balscott to Joan Arsic and acknowledged the
payment of a due for castle-guard at Dover. (fn. 118) He
was recorded as one of 4 co-parceners in the fee in
1242, and a Roger Leuke was one of the Arsic
tenants in 1244. (fn. 119) The connexion of the family with
the fee is not recorded further and in 1306 a William
Leuke of Balscott, presumably the man who was
accused of a killing in 1299, paid a very small tax. (fn. 120)

The Sarsdens, who were granted the ½ fee in 1206,
had a longer connexion. The family seems to have
already had land in Balscott, for a Richard of
Sarsden was accused of unlawful disseisin there in
1204. (fn. 121) Walter of Sarsden, either the original
grantee or his son, was a verderer of Wychwood
in 1232, and a Robert of Sarsden was a co-parcener
in the Arsic fee in 1242 and 1244; (fn. 122) John of Sarsden
contributed to the tax levied in 1306, and was
returned as one of the lords of the village in 1316. (fn. 123)
By 1346 a John atte Halle held the ½ fee, said to have
been formerly held by the heirs of Walter of Sarsden, but by 1428 it was again in the possession
of the Sarsden family, as Thomas of Sarsden was
lord. (fn. 124) There is no later record of his family's
connexion with the ½ fee.

Another under-tenant of the fee was Master
Simon of Walton, who held 1 yardland in Balscott
in 1228 and 6 yardlands in Balscott and Tysoe
(Warws.) in 1239–40, and was a co-parcener in
1242. (fn. 125) He was later Bishop of Norwich, and became lord in 1247 of an Alkerton manor also, with
which his Balscott lands must have descended. His
successors at Alkerton in 1277 held 4 yardlands and
rent in Balscott. (fn. 126) No later reference to this family's
holding at Balscott has been found.

The Prior of Wroxton was the fourth co-parcener
in 1242 under Joan Arsic. He was joint lord in 1316,
and it is likely that the abbey obtained the other
holdings in the course of the Middle Ages. (fn. 127) In
1536 the abbey held Balscott grange, 5 yardlands,
and the mill. (fn. 128) The manor, if manor it was, descended with Wroxton to the Popes. It seems likely that
there was no medieval manor in the strict sense. By
the time the records begin in the early 16th century
there was certainly no manorial court.

In 1086 2 hides in Wroxton were evidently
included in Miles Crispin's holding assessed under
Alkerton. (fn. 129) The overlordship of this part of Wroxton followed the descent of the overlordship of
Alkerton and was included in the 2 fees held under
the honor of Wallingford. (fn. 130)

Richard Fitz Reinfrid, the mesne tenant of Alkerton, likewise held these 2 hides and before his
death in 1115 or 1116 promised them to Abindgon
Abbey, a gift which was confirmed by his son Hugh
in the presence of the overlord Brian Fitz Count
and his wife Maud. (fn. 131) Hugh presumably promised
to do the foreign service for the holding, for although
his immediate successors are not recorded as having
any connexion with Wroxton, the manor was included
in the 2 fees of Wallingford honor held in 1297 by
Master Robert de Stokes, who had possession of
this estate by 1293. (fn. 132)

Abingdon Abbey appears only to have drawn
rent from its Wroxton holding and the undertenant of Wroxton in 1115, William Clement,
continued in possession. (fn. 133) He was probably followed
by Ingram Clement (fl. 1154–61), lord of Dunchurch (Warws.), and by his grandson William (II)
Clement, lord of Balscott and of Dunchurch. (fn. 134)
Until at least 1244 this estate followed the descent
of the Clements' estate in North Newington. (fn. 135)
It may then have passed to Wroxton Priory which
certainly before 1256 bought 3½ yardlands formerly
held by Alice Clement. (fn. 136) About the same time Alice
Clement, called of Wroxton, granted 15s. rent from
2 yardlands held of her in Wroxton to Abingdon
Abbey. (fn. 137) The abbey's rights were acknowledged by
Wroxton Priory who agreed to give 3s. a year to the
abbey. (fn. 138) The estate thus acquired by Wroxton
Priory was merged with its main manor, and the
payment due to Abingdon Abbey was probably
included in the annual pension paid to it by Wroxton Priory in 1536. (fn. 139)

Before 1219 Michael Belet granted the rectory
estate to Wroxton Priory. (fn. 140) It then followed the
descent of Wroxton manor (fn. 141) until in 1544 Thomas
Pope made a 99-year lease to his mother, Margaret
Bustard, and her heirs of all the tithes of Wroxton
and Balscott except those of the manor and demesne. (fn. 142)
He then professed himself dissatisfied with the
Crown auditor's valuation of the rent for the
rectory (fn. 143) and in 1545 sold the tithes back to the
Crown, less the tithes of manor and demesne, (fn. 144)
although he himself remained the reversionary
lessee as inheritor of the Bustard lease. Eighteen
months later Henry VIII granted the estate to the
Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford, who
thereupon became the lessors of Margaret Bustard. (fn. 145)
Margaret died in 1557 and the lease passed to
Thomas Pope's heir, John, who assigned it in 1560
and again in 1583. (fn. 146) In 1623 Christ Church challenged Sir William Pope to show his title, and took the
case to Chancery. For 2 years he prevaricated, said
he had lost the lease, launched a counter-suit
against Christ Church accusing them of stealing it,
and then finally produced it. The court upheld the
lease in view of the long time it had passed unchallenged, but decreed that the property should return
to Christ Church on its expiry. In 1631 the lease
was surrendered and a new one granted to Sir
Thomas Pope for 21 years; it was renewed to the
lessee of the manors for 21 years in 1649, 1659,
1667, and thereafter every 7 years until the inclosure
award of 1805. (fn. 147) After inclosure the property was
leased to the North family as before.

Before the Dissolution the rectorial tithes of
Wroxton were valued at £10. (fn. 148) From 1631 the rent
of the estate consisted of £10 old rent taken twothirds in cash and one-third in kind in the form of
4 qr. of best wheat and 8 qr. of malt at current
Oxford market prices. (fn. 149) This relative fixity of rent
was compensated for by a fine at will for renewal
of the lease. Starting at £40 in 1667 it rose to £100
in 1729 and by 1799 had reached £383. In 1813 it
reached a peak of £772, which was not surpassed
until 1841; between 1848 and 1864 it was over
£1,000. At the same time the rent fluctuated with
the corn prices, reaching a maximum of £77 17s.
in 1799. (fn. 150) In 1805 Christ Church and its lessee,
Lord Guilford, were awarded 326½ a. for rectorial
tithes. (fn. 151)

The grant of the church to Thomas Pope in 1537 (fn. 152)
included glebe, which probably belonged to the
rectory. In 1623 William Pope was holding a house
called the Parsonage, with a garden or orchard
and a close. (fn. 153) In 1625 Chancery ordered that a
search should be made for any glebe or parsonagehouse which the Popes might have absorbed. (fn. 154)
No further reference to rectorial glebe is known.

Local Government.

Manorial records are
largely lacking, but it is known that the Prior of
Wroxton had the assize of bread and ale for his
manorial tenants, and also view of frankpledge.
Trinity College succeeded to the prior's rights and
was still holding the view with court baron in 1804.
A copyholder was admitted in that year and a heriot
taken. (fn. 155) Wallingford honor, later Ewelme honor,
had the view for the 2 hides in Wroxton that belonged to its Alkerton fee, and suit was owed to the
honor court down to 1720. (fn. 156)

Apart from some late 19th-century minutes, and
the churchwardens' accounts of Balscott, (fn. 157) no
vestry records have survived. The vicar recorded in
1751, however, that there were 2 overseers who acted
jointly for the poor of Wroxton and Balscott,
though the churchwardens of Wroxton and of
Balscott kept separate accounts; each hamlet had
a constable, though the vicar was unable to say
whether they acted jointly or separately, and, as
each hamlet repaired its respective highways, (fn. 158)
each presumably had its own highways' surveyor.

In the early 18th century and probably earlier
the burden of poor-relief seems to have been alleviated by the intervention of the manorial lords: in
Lord Guilford's estate accounts for 1709 there
occurs an entry of £11 as an allowance for 22 weeks
for the poor, (fn. 159) which suggests some kind of regular
payment. In 1775–6 poor-relief cost the parish
£232, but between 1783 and 1785 the average for
some reason was only £140. (fn. 160) By 1803 there had
been a sharp rise: £507 was raised at the rather
high rate for a rural parish of 5s. 3d. of which £353
was spent on out-relief and £104 on in-relief. (fn. 161) A
workhouse, consisting of 3 cottages, was first
mentioned in 1768, (fn. 162) and in 1802–3 it had 14
permanent inhabitants. At that date 18 people
were receiving permanent out-relief and 10 occasional relief. (fn. 163)

As a large proportion of the expenditure at Wroxton went on in-relief the 1834 Poor Law Act had
little immediate effect. In 1834–5 £447 was spent
and although there was a fall to £371 the following
year this was proportionally a much smaller drop
than in most other parishes in the county. (fn. 164) Expenditure was still at this level in 1851–2 when the
parish was part of the Banbury Union and Wroxton's
poor were being sent to the Union workhouse. (fn. 165)

Economic History.

In 1086 there were 24
recorded tenants at Wroxton (2 serfs, 12 villani,
and 10 bordars) and 9 at Balscott (3 villani and 6
bordars). There were 8 ploughs owned by the
peasants and 3 on the demesne farm at Wroxton.
At Balscott there was 1 plough on demesne while
the tenants had 2 ploughs. There were 14 ploughlands and 60 a. of meadow at Wroxton and 5 ploughlands and 20 a. of meadow at Balscott. Wroxton was
valued at £16 and Balscott at £6. (fn. 166)

Fourteenth-century tax lists suggest that Balscott
was a slightly wealthier community than Wroxton.
In 1316 9 out of 19 contributors were assessed at
more than 2s. 6d. while at Wroxton only 1 out of 44
contributors was assessed at more than 2s. 6d. The
richest man at Balscott was assessed at 6s. (fn. 167) In
1327 8 out of Balscott's 19 contributors were
assessed at more than 2s. while at Wroxton only 13
out of 40 were assessed at more than 2s. One woman
at Wroxton was assessed at 5s. (fn. 168) To what extent the
villages were affected by the Black Death of 1349 is
unknown; the population in 1377 was comparatively
large (fn. 169) but in 1391 Wroxton Priory alleged that its
lands were barren and almost uncultivated through
the death, caused by epidemics, of cultivators. (fn. 170)
No direct evidence has been found of the stock kept
or the crops grown in the open fields in the Middle
Ages, but it is likely that the priory kept large flocks
of sheep in Wroxton as on its other estates. In 1217
its demesne contained a vineyard, (fn. 171) which presumably disappeared in the later Middle Ages like most
other English vineyards.

Information about the economic history of Wroxton becomes fuller in the 16th and 17th centuries.
For the second subsidy of 1523, to which there were
52 contributors, there were 24 assessed at the lowest
amount of 4d. and even the 3 richest farmers were
assessed only at 3s. 6d. and 4s. on goods worth £7
and £8. (fn. 172) The peasant farmer, however, profited
from inflation, and his comparative prosperity is
reflected in the rapid growth of population (fn. 173) and
in wills and inventories. Terriers of 1571 and 1604
show little marked gradation of wealth in the village
and no change except in the names of holders. The
tendency of the open-field system to prevent capital
accumulation thus receives further confirmation.
In 1571, of 25 customary tenants 11 held under 3
yardlands, 7 just 3, and 7 over 3; in 1604 the pattern
was 10, 5, and seven. (fn. 174) Holdings were divided into
the usual multitude of small strips, marked out
where necessary by merestones. In 1604 Thomas
Burden, the largest copyholder, held 5½ yardlands
in 117 separate pieces. (fn. 175) A substantial part of the
manorial demesne, known as 'the abbey lands' and
consisting of 30 yardlands, was scattered throughout
the open fields and worked by tenants. By 1751
consolidation had taken place in each furlong, and
the abbey lands consisted of a number of blocks,
known as 'Abbey Piece', of 4 to 15 'halfs'. (fn. 176) As late
as 1804 these blocks, still known as 'Abbey Piece',
were separated from the rest of the open-field
strips by wide green balks. (fn. 177)

Wroxton adhered to a 2-field system to a comparatively late date: in 1537 there is mention of
Town Field and in 1571 of South Field or South
Side of Wroxton Field, (fn. 178) but it is likely that, as in
neighbouring parishes, the furlong was more
important than the field. Experiments in crop rotation were being practised and leys farming had been
introduced. At some time between 1604 and 1654
the 2-field system was altered into a 4-field system
in which crops were grown 3 years out of 4, the
quarters being known in the 17th century as Padgeon,
Courseway, Rudon Hill, and Rowlow. (fn. 179) Owing to the
unequal distribution of the strips this change could
not be accomplished by a simple process of dividing
the 2 fields into 4, and as a result some quarters
consisted, at least by 1768, of detached blocks
scattered over the parish. (fn. 180) It is not known whether
any exchange of strips took place to assist this
division but it does not seem unlikely.

Wroxton, 1768

Based on a map by Edward and Thomas Smith at Trinity College, Oxford.

Along with the open fields was the usual accompaniment of meadow lands, in small lots in the Great
and Little Meadow. It is evident that originally
these parcels had been allotted annually, but by
the 16th century the lots were firmly attached to
each copyhold. In 1571 one tenant held a house, 80
strips of open-field land, 13 lots on the Great
Meadow, and 7 lots on the Little Meadow, the
whole comprising 2½ yardlands. (fn. 181) In addition there
were common leys, and common or waste ground,
amounting in 1768 to 120 and 216 a. respectively.
Each holder of a yardland by the custom of the
manor had the right of common for 3 horses or
other beasts, and 20 sheep in winter and 30 in
summer, while the poor had the right to cut furze
on the common. (fn. 182) Thus the tenants of Wroxton
alone had the right to keep about 1,300 sheep, and a
series of orders issued by the manorial court in
1580 and the almost universal possession by the
tenants of sheep-houses or sheep-cotes shown in the
terrier of 1604 indicate that they were fully exercising this privilege in the late 16th and early 17th
centuries. Indeed from the court orders it is evident
that the pressure of sheep population in the village
was threatening the smooth working of the openfield system, and limitations were placed on the
number of lambs permitted on the fields between
Lammas and Michaelmas, upon the right to employ
shepherds, and upon the times of sheep shearing. (fn. 183)
In addition to tenants' sheep there were 2,200
kept on the demesne in 1631 by William, Earl of
Downe. (fn. 184) Probate inventories drawn up in the later
17th century show that tenant farmers usually kept
sheep. Flocks were usually very small but some of
the wealthier farmers had flocks of between 100
and 140. (fn. 185)

Copyholders in the 16th century held at fixed
rents for 1, 2, or 3 lives, with the fine at the lord's
will; they also paid heriot. By the early 17th century
some heriots had been commuted for payments of
3s. 4d., 6s. 8d., or 13s. 4d. (fn. 186) A 1537 rent roll refers to
day-works in addition to rent, but no details are
given and there is no mention of them again. (fn. 187)

Comparatively little is known about the cottagers:
a rental of Wroxton and Balscott of 1525 shows 10
cottagers and 25 tenants; an undated rent roll of
the late 16th century or early 17th century 15 cottagers, 27 copyholders, and 4 leaseholders. (fn. 188) It was
alleged in 1650 that the Popes had converted their
copyholds into leaseholds during the Civil War, and
had turned their tenants out so as to let their land and
houses to others. The government was petitioned to
restore the former position, but the outcome of the
suit is not known. (fn. 189) By the early 18th century the
term 'day labourer' was being used: a suit roll of
1718 lists 31 names, presumably tenants, and 21 day
labourers. (fn. 190)

The largest and most continuously prominent
tenant family in both Wroxton and Balscott was
that of Lucas, records of which are continuous from
the earliest court roll of 1514. (fn. 191) Other families, such
as the Atkinses, were prosperous: Edward Atkins,
'yeoman' of Balscott, had 6 yardlands in 1633, of
which 2 were leased out, and goods valued at over
£168. (fn. 192) In 1686 another Edward Atkins, 'gentleman',
and his wife had goods worth c. £394. (fn. 193) The latter's
wealth, however, falls short of that of some of the
Lucases. Edward Lucas, who was leasing out 2
yardlands in 1661, also farmed a good deal himself,
for his crops were valued at £160 while the total
valuation of his goods came to £518. (fn. 194) Joseph Lucas's
goods amounted to over £370 and another Edward
Lucas, who had evidently retired from active farming
by 1681, had £258 in bonds. (fn. 195) Above them all,
however, towered John Burden, 'yeoman', who
was living in Balscott in 1684. (fn. 196) In 1687 he was
farming 9½ yardlands and left goods valued at
£645. (fn. 197)

A selection of some 30 inventories (fn. 198) suggests
that the main wealth of the Wroxton farmer in this
century came from his crops. Wheat, barley, pease,
and hay were the chief crops grown, while oats and
maslin were also mentioned. Sheep, cattle, and
horses were kept in varying numbers in accordance
with the wealth of each farmer; a herd of 20 cattle
including calves was large. Some members of the
Lucas family appear to have kept a common herd at
Withycombe Grounds. John Lucas had a quarter of
a 'stock of cattle' valued at £17 and Joseph Lucas
apparently had another quarter.

William, Earl of Downe (d. 1631), appears to
have devoted his land in the main to sheep and beasts.
His inventory lists 2,200 sheep worth £1,300 and
beasts and horses worth £400, while his crops (barley, maslin, pease, and oats) were worth only £66. (fn. 199)

From at least the end of the 17th century experiments began to be made in the cultivation of new
crops. Cinquefoil was being grown by William
Sacheverell on his inclosed ground in 1684. (fn. 200) In
1685 the purchase of a hop ground and mustard
seeds were entered in the estate accounts; (fn. 201) in 1709
there is a reference to rape ground, in 1765 to turnips,
in 1769 to Dutch clover and trefoil, and in 1757 and
1759 to rye grass. (fn. 202) Inclosures called Upper and
Lower Rye Grass are also mentioned in the inclosure award of 1804. (fn. 203) Cape wheat was another
crop which, as Arthur Young records in 1809, was
grown with much success by a local farmer. (fn. 204)

Leases occasionally throw some light on farming
practice. In 1765, for instance, the new tenant of a
farm covenanted not to break up any old sward, or
to mow any of the meadow twice in a year under
penalty of £5 a year; and to fallow a quarter part
of the arable each year or sow it with turnips or
grass seeds; and if he sowed with grass seed he
agreed to take no more than one crop a year. (fn. 205)

The 18th century also saw a renewed interest in
forestry. The Popes had done a great deal in this
respect. When Sir Thomas Pope leased Wroxton
Abbey to his brother John in 1551, the latter covenanted to plant within 20 years 2,000 oaks and
1,000 elm and ash trees, and to make the copyholders
plant also. (fn. 206) Wroxton's woods, however, no doubt
suffered like the rest of Oxfordshire from spoliation
during the Civil War. A map of 1768 shows that all
the woods in Wroxton parish had vanished, except
those planted in the park. But the park itself had
absorbed many of the old woods, whose names survived as Home Wood, Mill Wood, and the Great
Wood. Extensive planting was undertaken by Lord
Guilford in the first half of the century and by 1778
a fine growth of timber had developed. After long
negotiations Lord Guilford finally bought the standing
timber from the college for £3,553. (fn. 207) In 1805 a total
of 633 trees, oak, ash, elm, and beech, were marked
for sale. (fn. 208)

The final inclosure of the open fields did not come
until 1804. There had long been some inclosed land,
some at least dating from the Middle Ages. By the
time of the Dissolution the priory had inclosed for
pasture that part of the demesne that was concentrated to the east of the priory buildings comprising,
according to a survey of c. 1535, 8 closes of 209 a.,
together with an orchard. (fn. 209) This inclosure may have
been carried out by the early 14th century, judging
from the amount of wool levied by the Crown from
all the priory estates in 1339. (fn. 210) The estimate of
209 a. seems unduly low since the 1768 survey put
the abbey inclosures at 342½ a., the 1778 terrier of
house and park alone included 228 a., and an 1823
survey of the park and demesne included 359 a. (fn. 211)

Besides the abbey inclosures there were small
inclosures round the two mills in 1571, and on the
western extremity of Balscott field there were 11
yardlands, known by 1583 and probably at a much
earlier date as 'inlands'. (fn. 212) In 1684 they measured
156 a. without the mill closes (5 a.) and comprised
19 closes. They were in the hands of Lord Guilford,
William Sacheverell, and 2 others. (fn. 213) In 1710 there
were 3 owners. (fn. 214) Later these inclosures passed
almost entirely to the Copes: in 1728 Anthony
Cope leased 130 a. of closes, Smith's close, and 6
yardlands in Balscott, (fn. 215) and in 1768 the Revd. Sir
Richard Cope, Bt., was in possession and had recently
'taken in' from the open field another 27½ a. (fn. 216) By
1804, on the eve of inclosure, the old inclosures
amounted to a total of 552½ a., of which c. 350 a.
comprised the park and demesne, out of a total area
in the parish of 2,495 a. (fn. 217)

As freeholders were never either numerous or
prominent at Wroxton from the 14th to the 19th
centuries, the bulk of the land was held by the lord
of the manor, who was in possession of demesnes,
abbey lands, mills, and extensive copyholds in the
open fields. In 1768 a survey disclosed the following
situation: Trinity College held 1,183½ a., comprising
abbey inclosures (342 a.), abbey lands (293¼ a.),
and other lands (547¼ a.); Brasenose College held 8
yardlands of open field or 75¼ a.; 10 freeholders (of
whom 3 held between them 120 a. or 83 per cent.)
held 145¼ a.; and common, leys, and waste totalled
336 a. In all there were said to be 1,741 a. (fn. 218) By the
inclosure award of 1805 (fn. 219) 2,251 a. were redistributed.
The award allotted to Trinity College 1,603 a., to
Christ Church 326½ a. for rectorial tithes, to 11
freeholders 194 a., to Brasenose College 101 a., to
the poor 17 a., and to the churchwardens 10 a.

One of the effects of inclosure was to give great
impetus to the break up of the old social pattern. In
1804, of the 65 copyholders of Trinity College other
than Lord Guilford, 10 held 644 a. and the remaining 55 only 315 a., (fn. 220) but by 1880 a life interest in 32
of Trinity's 74 copyholds was held by 2 men. (fn. 221)
In 1894 most of the land was let at a rack rent, and
only 36 unexpired copyholds for life remained. (fn. 222)

After inclosure the method of assessing the copyholders' fines, formerly paid at the will of the lord
subject to heriot, was altered and they were calculated at 2 years' value. Heriots, which by the late 18th
century seem to have been assessed at 2½ guineas a
yardland, were not affected by inclosure. (fn. 223)

In 1851 there were only 2 large farms of 270 a.
and 310 a. and 14 others of 50 a. to 120 a. The rest
were small-holdings — 12 of 40 a. and under. The
large farms employed 7 and 12 labourers each. One
miller and farmer combined had 7 labourers. (fn. 224)
In the 1860s the land was mainly under arable
though the soil was better suited to grass and a 5course rotation was used. Many sheep were kept
and fed on turnips in the winter. (fn. 225) Labour conditions
were somewhat better than elsewhere. Colonel
North employed no boys under 12 years, no girls
at all, and women only at special times. Though
there was overcrowding in the cottages there was a
good water supply and all married couples had an
allotment of ¼ a. from Colonel North. (fn. 226)

The disastrous effects of the agricultural slump
may be traced in the rents received by the Norths
for the rectory estate. In 1864 gross rents had reached
£633, falling off to £597 15s. eight years later. By
1883, however, Colonel North was only able to find
tenants for 105 a. the remaining 221 a. having been
untenanted for 2 years and farmed by himself. (fn. 227)
As late as 1943 it was considered that the land in
this area was not being used to full advantage and
that more should be devoted to grass and to arable
sheep. (fn. 228) Since then there has been some improvement, though progress is retarded by the ironstone
mining mentioned below. Some farms have increased
their acreage, notably Laurels farm (425 a.) and
Grange farm at Balscott (277 a.), and 4 have
around 200 a. There are, however, still 5 holdings of
between 15 a. and 100 a. (fn. 229)

Despite close proximity to Banbury with its
weaving and other industries, Wroxton seems to have
been chiefly an agricultural village before the 19th
century. In 1571, however, 5 out of 25 tenants listed
possessed kiln-houses, possibly used for smelting. (fn. 230)
A Wroxton Quaker was apprenticed to a clothworker
of South Newington in 1673, a member of the Lucas
family was a silkweaver in 1698, and a weaver is
mentioned in 1718–22. (fn. 231) Quarrying for building
stone had been carried out on a small scale, as
required locally, in the 18th century and probably
before, but transport costs without easy water
communication prevented its growth. (fn. 232) In the early
19th century the majority of the inhabitants of
Wroxton, even if they did not farm land themselves,
had occupations dependent on farming. The parish
registers (1813–57) indicate that about half the
population were labourers, and that there were the
usual rural craftsmen such as blacksmiths and
carpenters. (fn. 233)

In the 1851 census, besides such craftsmen, there
were 2 masons, a lacemaker, a glover, a cork-seller,
2 plush-weavers, and a linen-weaver. (fn. 234) At the end
of the 19th century came the large-scale exploitation
of ironstone quarrying. Since 1917 the Oxfordshire
Ironstone Co. Ltd. has been the lessee, and Christ
Church and Trinity College have leased ground as
the need for it arose. The company extracts ironstone at the rate of 30,000 tons an acre for conversion into steel; it works 45 yards at a time, preparing
a third, digging a third, and restoring the level of a
third. In 1963 it was employing 135–140 men, but
at the height of the steel boom had employed
200. The product was sent to South Wales and
to the Brinberg steel works at Wrexham (Denbighshire). (fn. 235)

Mills.

In 1086 a mill at Wroxton was valued at
8s.; it was probably this mill which Annora de
Verdun granted to the priory in 1263. (fn. 236) Wroxton
mill was probably reconstructed in 1475. (fn. 237)

A miller held land in Balscott in the early 13th
century. (fn. 238) In 1504 'Ballam Mill' in Balscott was
granted to the priory by Thomas Sidnell, Chaplain
of Wroxton. The grant was disputed and in 1512
the priory began a lawsuit with Robert Wandell
which ended with Wandell granting the mill to the
priory in return for £20 in cash and a 30-year lease
to himself at the old rent. (fn. 239) In 1535 Balscott mill,
valued at 40s., was tenanted by John Sergeant, and
Wroxton mill, valued at 26s. 8d., was let to Thomas
Coventry. (fn. 240)

After the Dissolution the mills followed the descent of the manors and so passed to Trinity College,
Oxford. (fn. 241) In 1536 John Pope, brother of Sir Thomas,
leased the mills to John Burton for 24 years at a rent
of £2 each yearly; (fn. 242) by 1686 one of the mills was let
for £12. (fn. 243) In 1709 one was rebuilt, (fn. 244) and in 1768 the
mills were valued at c. £12 and c. £16 and included
13 a. and 9 a. of land. (fn. 245) In the early 19th century the
mills were said to have little value, having only 2
pairs of stones each and poor water supply. Trinity
College carried out improvements at Balscott mill
in 1824–8, and at both mills in 1852–4. (fn. 246)

In 1894 the agricultural depression and the
advance of mechanized milling forced Lord North
to surrender the lease to the college after it had been
held in his family for at least 350 years. Because of
failing water supply it was reported in 1914 that it
was no longer a paying proposition to work the
mills. Balscott mill has been a private house since
the 1920s. In 1931 Wroxton mill was pulled down. (fn. 247)

Church.

The earliest documentary evidence for
Wroxton church dates from 1217 when its rector
was mentioned. (fn. 248) The dependent chapel at Balscott
dates from the 12th century, however, (fn. 249) and it is
likely that the mother church of Wroxton was still
earlier.

When Michael Belet, Rector of Wroxton, founded
the priory there c. 1217, he appears at first to have
granted to it the advowson only. (fn. 250) In 1219 the Bishop
of Lincoln confirmed that Wroxton Priory should
appropriate the rectory, Michael Belet retaining his
rights in it for life. (fn. 251) The chapel of Balscott was also
included in Belet's grant. (fn. 252)

A vicarage had been ordained by 1219. (fn. 253) The
vicar was to have a chaplain and clerk, the chaplain
to serve at Wroxton and Balscott successively. (fn. 254)
In 1395, however, the Prior and Canons of Wroxton
petitioned that on the death of the vicar they might
serve the church with one of their canons, or with a
secular priest removeable at their pleasure. (fn. 255)
The petition seems to have been granted for thereafter the living was treated as a perpetual curacy, the
vicarage's endowments were lost, (fn. 256) and incumbents
were paid a stipend by the impropriator (fn. 257) and were
not instituted. In the 16th and early 17th centuries
incumbents were called curates; (fn. 258) later incumbents
called themselves indifferently curate and vicar; (fn. 259)
the term 'minister' is also used. (fn. 260) In the early 19th
century the Bishop of Oxford complained that the
Norths had frequently done nothing more than
nominate vicars orally; that vicars had no security
of tenure and no real means of exacting their
stipend; and that for some long time past incumbents had had no legal title since they had been
unlicensed. The incumbent, however, supported
the Norths, claiming, however mistakenly, that the
living was a curacy since it carried with it not a foot
of land. (fn. 261) In the course of the 19th century the
vicarage once more received endowments (fn. 262) and
any confusion over its status disappeared.

When the vicarage was ordained it was valued at
£6 13s. 4d. (fn. 263) In 1395 it was worth £10 a year. (fn. 264) In
1526, however, the incumbent was paid only
£5 6s. 8d. (fn. 265) In 1710 Lord Guilford was paying the
vicar £30 a year, which had increased to £50 by the
1790s and to £60 in 1829. (fn. 266) In 1827 the living was
endowed with £1,000 from Queen Anne's Bounty,
and large private benefactions brought the total
income of the vicar in 1862 to £133; (fn. 267) in 1879
Christ Church added a further £50 and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners granted an annual £50 out
of the common fund. (fn. 268)

In 1226 the glebe comprised 2 yardlands to the
east of the church, part of a hide held by Adam,
clerk; the vicar was also granted a meadow, a house
and other buildings, and all profits of the altar. (fn. 269)
The vicar had only to supply sufficient altar lights
and to pay the synodals; in 1395 the Prior and Canons
of Wroxton agreed to continue paying the bishop's
dues and other burdens of the church. (fn. 270) Although
in 1625 Chancery ordered that a search should be
made for any glebe or parsonage-house which the
impropriators might have absorbed, it was reported
in 1829 that the incumbent had neither land, tithes,
nor fees, save for marriages; the churchyard, however, belonged to him. (fn. 271) Plans for a vicarage-house
were set on foot in 1848 but the house was not completed until 1868; it was built on land given by
Trinity College, Oxford. (fn. 272) In 1887 the glebe amounted to 1 a. (fn. 273)

The dependent chapelry of Balscott never acquired parochial status; it had no churchyard in the
16th century but had one by the beginning of the
18th century. (fn. 274) It is not certain that the stipulation
made in 1226 that a curate should serve Balscott
alternately with Wroxton was ever complied with.
There was no separate curate at Balscott in 1526. (fn. 275)
After the Dissolution the lessees of the rectory
were to provide 2 chaplains for the parish, but in
1544 Thomas Pope was trying to get permission to
demolish Balscott chapel and so obviate the need
for more than one chaplain. (fn. 276) Between 1581 and
1594 the Rector of Alkerton served Balscott. (fn. 277)
During most of the 18th century there was no curate,
although in 1738 the incumbent of Wroxton was
preaching there once a week, whereas his predecessor had held only one service there a month. (fn. 278)
From 1754 a curate was intermittently employed;
even so the number of times Holy Communion was
celebrated there fell from 3 to 2 a year. (fn. 279) In 1834
the weekly Sunday service at Balscott was taken by
the Curate of Horley. (fn. 280) In 1864 Christ Church made
a grant of £80 a year for the stipend of Balscott's
curate (fn. 281) but in 1900 the appointment finally lapsed. (fn. 282)

Three of Wroxton's late medieval incumbents,
Thomas Balscott (fl. 1441), John Banbury (fl. 1526),
and Robert Hanley (fl. 1540), were canons of Wroxton. (fn. 283) After the Reformation there is evidence that
the Wroxton clergy were always on the move,
shifting from one parish to another. In 1593, for
instance, the curate was not returned in the Certificate of Oxford Clergy, and between 1565 and
1603 no incumbent stayed for more than two years. (fn. 284)
From 1681, when the Guilfords became established
at Wroxton, the church seems to have been treated
by the family like a private chapel. (fn. 285) The connexion
between the North family and the incumbent was
especially close in the time of Francis Wise, philologist and antiquary, who was presented to the
living by Francis, Lord Guilford, who had been
his pupil at Oxford. (fn. 286) He held the living from 1723
until 1746, but for part of the period seems to have
been non-resident. After 1726 he was Radcliffe
Librarian and held the donative of Elsfield, also by
gift of Lord Guilford, and was occupied with the
collation of manuscripts in the Laud collection in the
Bodleian Library for his edition of Plutarch's Lives
(1729). (fn. 287) At various times, however, he certainly
resided with the North family at Wroxton Abbey
and his letters show that when there he acted as a
steward of the estates, in the absence of the family. (fn. 288)
It is evident that he was also an energetic incumbent. In 1738 he reported to the bishop that he took
prayers twice every day at the Abbey; he preached
every Sunday at Wroxton, and had increased the
services at Balscott. He claimed, and the parish
registers show, that he converted about 10 Anabaptists. (fn. 289)

At the beginning of the 19th century, too, the
incumbent, besides serving Wroxton and Balscott,
acted as chaplain to Lord Guilford, sleeping at his
house 2 or 3 nights a week. (fn. 290) In 1834 the number of
communicants had dropped from 30 to 20 and extra
services were held only on Christmas Day and Good
Friday. (fn. 291)

The influence of the Oxford Movement made itself
felt in the second half of the century. By 1854
morning prayer was being celebrated every Wednesday and also on Saints' Days. (fn. 292) Psalms were first
chanted in 1872 and in the same year candles were
placed on the screen and altar for the harvest
festival service. In 1885 the choir was seated in the
chancel, and began to wear surplices; ten years later
cassocks were added. In 1893 daily matins were
begun and there were Holy Communion services on
Sundays and the principal Saints' Days. A year
later Holy Communion began to be celebrated
chorally. These changes and increased parochial
activity by the vicars resulted in a steep rise in the
annual number of communicants in the 2 churches;
between 1865 and 1872 numbers rose from 393 to
570. In 1941 the communicants numbered 1,048,
but since then numbers have fallen off. (fn. 293)

The parish church of ALL SAINTS, (fn. 294) Wroxton,
consists of nave, chancel, north and south aisles,
south porch, and western tower. Structurally there
is no sign of anything earlier than the 14th century,
when the whole fabric appears to have been refashioned or altogether rebuilt. (fn. 295) In the 15th century
the clerestory was added to the nave, and the nave
aisles were given wooden roofs, substantial portions
of which still survive. Traces of a medieval wallpainting remain above the chancel screen.

Some work must have been done on the tower in
the early 17th century, to judge by a stone dated
1636 on the inside wall, but by 1748 it was in a
perilous condition. With the assistance and encouragement of Lord Guilford, Sanderson Miller
was employed to design a new tower. The work was
carried out by his mason William Hitchcox of
Ratley (Warws.) and the foundation stone was laid
in April 1748. The tower was originally crowned
with an 'octagon of stone', the squinches for which
are still visible beneath the present roof. This octagon blew down almost as soon as it was erected,
much to Horace Walpole's satisfaction. (fn. 296)

A gallery had been added at the west end of the
church in 1738 by J. Banister; (fn. 297) in 1755 the chancel roof was repaired and the open medieval
interior ceiled; (fn. 298) and between 1738 and 1823 the
church was re-pewed. (fn. 299) In 1823 it was recorded that
an annual income of £24 was used for painting the
pews and that the church was in an excellent state
of repair. (fn. 300) In 1845–6 the font was entirely recarved and the church was re-seated; an organ (by
Halmshaw & Sons) was erected in the west gallery
in 1879 (fn. 301) and new heating apparatus and electric
light were installed in 1932 and 1936. (fn. 302)

In 1885 Colonel North gave stained glass panels
of the twelve apostles by Clayton & Bell in the chancel, and in 1884 and 1894 the windows by Burlison
and Grylls at the east end of the north and south
aisles. During the late 19th century Colonel North
made extensive purchases of 16th- and 17th-century
continental carved woodwork from different countries. These, some of which are very fine, are to be
found let into the pulpit, on the back of the chancel
screen, which mostly dates from the 15th century,
on the front of the chancel pews, and as a frieze
behind the altar at the east end of the chancel.

The church contains some notable monuments.
In the chancel is a huge canopied tomb to Sir
William Pope, Earl of Downe (d. 1631), and his wife
Anne (d. 1625), with kneeling children. Among
other monuments the most noteworthy are an
elegant wall slab to Lord North, the Prime Minister,
(d. 1792) carved by John Flaxman in 1800, (fn. 303) and
another to the three wives of Francis, Lord Guilford (d. 1790), by Joseph Wilton (1783). (fn. 304) There are
grave stones to Sir Thomas Pope, Earl of Downe
(d. 1668), and to Francis, Lord Guilford (d. 1685),
Lord Keeper. Among the local gentry and their
wives who are commemorated are Thomas Sacheverell
(d. 1675), son of the Rector of Tadmarton, Robert
Burden of Balscott (d. 1677), and John Burden (d.
1687).

Among the brasses in the chancel is one to Margaret Bustard (d. 1557), wife first of William Pope
of Deddington and then of John Bustard of Adderbury, and mother of Sir Thomas Pope, founder of
Trinity College, Oxford. (fn. 305)

The plate includes a silver paten given by the
Hon. Mrs. Ann North in 1722, and bought back by
Lord North after its sale with other surplus communion plate by the vicar and parishioners in 1885. (fn. 307)

In 1805 c. 8 a. in lieu of open-field land were
allotted to the churchwardens for church repairs;
in 1823 the rent was as much as £24 a year. In the
period 1941–c. 1955 the land was leased for mining
and the royalties were spent mostly on reducing a
debt of over £5,000 incurred in church restoration. (fn. 308)
In 1902 Henry Fox vested Ragnell's Close (5 a.) in
the vicar and churchwardens for the maintenance
of the church clock and the upkeep of the churchyard. In the period 1941–c. 1955 the land was leased
for mining, and in 1960, Trinity College were
renting it for £189. (fn. 309)

The chapel of ST. MARY MAGDALENE,
Balscott, consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, and a
slender south tower. It appears to have been rebuilt
in the early 14th century, but retains a tub-shaped
font and part of a tympanum, both of which may
be late-12th-century. The tower has an octagonal
parapet, and the lowest stage serves as a porch. In the
period 1800–23 the chapel was 'completely repaired'
and given new pews and a gallery (since removed). (fn. 310)
A small piece of land, administered by the Balscott
churchwarden and leased in 1734 for £1 6s. and in
1801 for £8 8s., had been sufficient to pay for all
repairs in the 18th century; in the 19th century,
however, the churchwarden was often in debt. (fn. 311)
In 1849–50 the chancel roof was repaired at a cost
of some £200 by Franklin. (fn. 312) There were extensive
restorations in 1873; (fn. 313) in 1921 the chancel roof and in
1926–7 the nave and tower were restored. In the
interior are two 14th-century piscinae and a pulpit
made up of 16th- and 17th-century woodwork from
the continent given by Colonel North. (fn. 314)

There are 2 bells, one probably 19th-century,
the other re-cast in 1756 by Matthew Bagley. (fn. 315)
The churchyard, mentioned in 1723, was probably
extended in 1823. (fn. 316)

In 1805 the churchwarden of Balscott was allotted c. 2 a. for the church land held in the open field;
the income was used as before for chapel repairs.
In 1941 a mining lease was granted; some of the
royalties were used for restoration of the chapel,
but the greater part was invested. (fn. 317) A sum of £200,
invested in 1923 and yielding £8 14s. 4d. a year in
1963, is said to derive from the Henry Gardner
Trust for the upkeep of the churchyard. (fn. 318)

The Wroxton registers begin in 1548 but there
are many gaps during the 16th century. There are
transcripts for the period 1670–1865. (fn. 319)

Roman Catholicism.

No Roman Catholics
were recorded at Wroxton before the late 19th
century, except for a Flemish servant who was a
recusant in 1706 and a woman who was said to be a
papist in 1817. (fn. 320) Colonel North (1804–94) and
his son, Lord North (1836–1932), were Roman
Catholics and services were held in the chapel at the
Abbey. In about 1883 a mission was established, the
priest and chapel being located first in the 'North
Arms' and later in an adjoining building. (fn. 321) In 1887
the chapel of ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY
was built in the village by the Norths; (fn. 322) it is registered for marriages, and is served from Banbury. (fn. 323)

Protestant Nonconformity.

The
Compton Census of 1676 recorded 16 Protestant
nonconformists in the parish, but this may well have
been an underestimate, particularly for Balscott
where there were both Quaker and Anabaptist
communities. The Quaker registers for the Banbury
neighbourhood give the names of 9 families in the
parish in the 17th century, half of them living at
Balscott. (fn. 324) Three of these persisted into the 18th
century, (fn. 325) but the community was then a dying one.
John Shelswell (d. 1717), who was distrained on for
non-payment of tithes in 1717, (fn. 326) was one of the last
of this Quaker family: the last Wroxton Quaker in
the burial register was recorded in 1735, (fn. 327) and in
1738 the parson was probably correct in reporting
that there were no Quakers in the parish. (fn. 328)

Anabaptists were not recorded until 1738 when
they too were a dying community. The incumbent
then said that there had been a licensed meeting
house which had fallen out of use 15 years before;
that he had baptized 'half a score of adults of that
persuasion with their children'; and that there was
only 1 left and this man's children often attended
church. (fn. 329) One Anabaptist was reported at the beginning of the 19th century (fn. 330) and in 1834 the vicar said
that there were Baptists in the parish but there is no
record of any chapel. (fn. 331) Two or 3 Presbyterian families were mentioned in 1759, (fn. 332) but in 1778 there was
only one. (fn. 333) In this year the first evidence of Methodism appears: 'a sort of Methodistical preacher, a
drummer in the Northamptonshire Militia' came
sometimes to Balscott and preached in a farm-house
there, (fn. 334) but there was no meeting-house nearer than
Banbury. There was a dissenting teacher with a
licensed meeting in his house at Balscott in 1805 (fn. 335)
and 3 years later there were 10 'Calvinistic Methodists'
in the hamlet, though they had no resident teacher. (fn. 336)
The farm-house of a Mr. Williams was licensed. (fn. 337) but
in 1814 was disused as a meeting-house. (fn. 338) It is not
possible to be certain whether Williams lived in
Wroxton or Balscott or whether he is connected
with the Williams who in 1822 offered facilities to
the Independents. (fn. 339) In 1822 William Gardner's
house in Wroxton was registered as a meetinghouse by a Methodist minister of Banbury (fn. 340) and in
1834 the vicar said there was a Methodist place of
worship in the parish, though he believed it not to
be set apart for that purpose; the teacher was not
resident. (fn. 341) William Gardner as steward returned in
1851 a Methodist congregation of 78 in the morning
and 43 in the evening. Wroxton Methodist chapel
was rebuilt in 1864. (fn. 342) There was also a Methodist
chapel at Balscott, built in 1850, with a congregation
of 57 in the morning and 95 in the evening. (fn. 343)

An Independent minister of Banbury, Thomas
Searle, who had begun to preach in Wroxton in
1819, registered a small room as a meeting-house
there the following year; immorality was said to be
prevalent and 'gross darkness' to cover the people. (fn. 344)
In 1822 Williams, a local farmer, offered part of his
premises to be fitted up as a chapel which was
registered in 1823. (fn. 345) It was said originally to hold
150, but to have been enlarged in 1824 to hold 200. (fn. 346)
A church was formed in 1824 consisting originally of
eight members but by the end of the year there were
28. (fn. 347) In 1825 the sect founded a flourishing Sunday
school. (fn. 348) At the time of the 1851 Census there was a
congregation of 60–70. The vicar, commenting on
the Census figures for all the parish nonconformists,
said that, as he could manage only one service in
church, the Church people went to chapel as well
and were counted in the dissenters' return. He also
said that one of the churchwardens was a dissenter
thrust into office against his will. (fn. 349) In 1878 there
were reported to be 16 professed dissenters in the
parish. (fn. 350) The Independent chapel disappeared
between 1877 and 1883 (fn. 351) but in 1965 the Methodist
chapels at Wroxton and Balscott had memberships
of 16 and 17 respectively. They were served by
ministers from Banbury and Brailes. (fn. 352)

Schools.

In 1709 there was a school at Wroxton,
whose master was paid £20 a year by Lord Guilford. (fn. 353)
For most of the 18th century there was no school at
either Wroxton or Balscott. (fn. 354) By 1808 there were 2
unendowed schools, each supported by Francis,
Earl of Guilford. There were about 20 children, of
both sexes, in each school, the boys being taught
reading and writing and the girls needlework. (fn. 355)
To these another 'common school' had been added
by 1815, but heavy taxation made the inhabitants disinclined to support a Sunday school; the National
Society's new plan could not be put into effect,
since the master and mistress were not capable of
doing it. (fn. 356)

These difficulties, however, were overcome. In
1817 the Earl of Guilford leased 3 cottages, later 4,
for the use of a school, and in 1818 it was reported
that the two schools, with 44 children, supported
partly by the earl and partly by voluntary subscription, were affiliated to the National Society. (fn. 357)
A schoolmaster was appointed in 1821 (fn. 358) and by
1833 the schools had been amalgamated, to form a
National day and Sunday school. It was attended by
60 children between 6 and 12 years and had a master
and mistress, who were paid £26 a year by Lady
Georgiana North and £5 by Trinity College.
There were also 2 small day schools, one kept by a
churchwoman, the other by a dissenter, each with
c. 12 pupils. Their instruction was paid for by their
parents. Besides these there was a Sunday school,
founded in 1825 by Independent dissenters, consisting of 22 boys and 20 girls, who were taught, free,
by members of the sect. (fn. 359) In 1855 new buildings were
erected for the National school, which was then
managed by the vicar and a school committee.
Graded fees were paid by the pupils. (fn. 360) The school
had 67 pupils in 1860, and 20 attended an adult
evening school, supported by the vicar, which was
held in the winter months with moderate but steady
success. (fn. 361) Attendance at the National school had
risen by 1866 to 70 in the day and 85 in the Sunday
school, (fn. 362) but though the schoolmaster was pensioned
off in that year and a certificated schoolmistress
appointed, to qualify the school for a government
grant, this had still not been received by 1871. (fn. 363)

The school had been rebuilt in 1868, with accommodation for 112 children, though the average
attendance up to 1906 was between 50 and 60. (fn. 364)
The school building and site were handed over to
trustees by a deed of 1871. (fn. 365) Annual and fee grants
were received by 1894, and an aid grant by 1900,
which provided most of the income, though some
still came from voluntary contributions. (fn. 366) The
school's status was that of a Controlled school in
1962 and it took about 50 pupils. (fn. 367)

Balscott school, with a teacher's residence attached, was built in 1840 largely through the efforts
of E. J. Middleton, curate of the parish. A mistress
was put in charge. (fn. 368) There were 68 pupils in 1860
and the school was supported by subscriptions.
There was only one room for boys and girls and in
1862 the condition of the school was said to be 'very
bad'. (fn. 369) By 1866 it was in receipt of a government
grant, was affiliated to the National Society, and was
managed by a committee instead of, as previously,
by the vicar. (fn. 370) Then there were 48 boys and girls
in the day school, and 30 in the Sunday school, since
many children came from Shutford and elsewhere
to the day school, and remained in their own parish
for the Sunday school. (fn. 371)

The school premises were conveyed to trustees
in 1866 and were rebuilt in 1867 when a playground
was added. (fn. 372) There was accommodation for 45 in
1871, with an attendance of 6 boys and 29 girls. (fn. 373)
A new school-house was built in 1888, with accommodation for 54 children. (fn. 374) Attendance,
however, fell rapidly at the end of the century. In
1894 it was 41 and in 1904 nineteen. In 1931 the
school was closed. (fn. 375)

Charities.

By the inclosure award of 1805 c.
17 a. were allotted to the poor in lieu of fuel rights
vested in the inhabitants. The rent was to be applied
to buying fuel, clothes, and necessities for parishioners, whether receiving relief or not. (fn. 376) In 1851
the land was let for £36 10s. which was spent entirely
on fuel. Between 1884 and 1895 the rent was gradually reduced to £16 and coal was distributed by
tickets worth 3s. 6d. each. (fn. 377) In 1941 a 36-year lease
of the land was granted to the Oxfordshire Ironstone
Co. Ltd., which relinquished the property c. 1955;
the stock was then £3,050 and the interest £97 10s. (fn. 378)
The land was subsequently held at a gradually
increasing rent. In 1960 the money was spent on
coal for the needy, on help for the sick and bereaved,
and on educational expeditions to London. (fn. 379)

By the terms of Henry Fox's grant of 1902 for
the upkeep of the church and churchyard any surplus
was to be spent on relief of the poor. (fn. 380)

Footnotes

1. This article is based upon the investigations of
Professor Lawrence Stone who wrote parts of it himself.

35. J. Wilson, Catalogus Cartarum, 57. The list of
buildings still standing in Aug. 1537 is given in T. Warton,
Life of Sir Thomas Pope (1780), App. XXII. This transcript
is both faulty and incomplete: for 'outside' read 'south
side' for 'fourth aisle' read 'south aisle' and add: 'the
prior's lodging on both sides and the great buttery'
(Trinity Coll. President's Off., Wroxton and Balscott
Misc., f. 2).

42. Roger North, Lives of the Norths (1826), ii. 248;
Norwich Publ. Libr. 7803/23, f. 2. In 1680 Ld. North
was granted £50 worth of timber when his lease was
renewed, because he 'intended great repairs and alterations': Trinity Coll. President's Off., letters between Ld.
North and College and Reg. of Fines, 1658–1776, p. 8.

82. In this year his son bought a marriage for his sister:
Rot. de Ob. et Fin. (Rec. Com.), 180.

83. D.N.B.; Emden, O. U. Reg. Dugdale says that he
succeeded an elder brother Hervey (Baronage, i. 614), but
there is no evidence for this, and the references he gives
refer to a Hervey Belet who was alive in 1214: Rot. Litt.
Pat. (Rec. Com.), i. 120. The relict of Michael Belet's
brother John claimed dower in Wroxton in 1205, but
John is not recorded as holding Wroxton and may have
died before his father: Cur. Reg. R. iii. 257; Rot. Cur. Reg.
(Rec. Com.), ii. 57.

100. Alleged by Sir Walter Pye, attorney of the Court of
Wards, in a suit brought on behalf of Thomas, Earl of
Downe, a minor, in 1631: Trinity Coll. Tower Mun.,
Wroxton bdle.

101. In his will of 1558 Sir Thomas White asked the
College to continue to lease Fyfield to his heirs 'as long as
the male line continues': W. H. Stevenson and H. E.
Salter, Early History of St. John's College (O.H.S. n.s. i),
397.

232. The limiting factor of transport costs is well illustrated
by the fact that when in 1681 Trinity wanted timber for
some buildings it was found cheaper to buy wood at
Oxford than to transport the logs down the BanburyOxford road: Trinity Coll. President's Off., Wroxton and
Balscott Misc., 15.